STONEWALL gave their award for Bigot of the Year to the Cardinal because of his opposition to gay marriage.

SCOTLAND’S leading Catholic found an unlikely ally in First Minister Alex Salmond yesterday after being branded a bigot.

Gay rights charity Stonewall gave their award for Bigot of the Year to Cardinal Keith O’Brien for his criticism of gay marriage.

O’Brien is a fierce opponent of the Same Sex Marriage Bill being brought forward by the SNP Government. But Salmond hit out at Stonewall yesterday.

He said: “Stonewall were clearly wrong to describe Scotland’s cardinal in these terms and, in any case, should reflect on whether pejorative titles like this do anything to enhance their cause.”

The Catholic Church in Scotland yesterday called for the withdrawal of Stonewall’s public funding.

The Scottish Government ruled out cutting the £100,000 a year that goes to the charity.

Barclays and Coutts banks, who sponsored two of the awards at the ceremony in London, said they will axe their funding if the bigot category is not dropped next year.

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson won Stonewall’s Politician of the Year at the awards in London on Thursday – but was booed for criticising the bigot award.

Davidson, who is gay, is among those giving cross-party support to a Same-Sex Marriage Bill.

Earlier this year, O’Brien wrote that same-sex marriage represented a “grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right”. He also said gay partnerships were “harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved”.

At the award ceremony, Davidson said it was “important for young people to see politics, gender or sexuality should be no barrier to success”. And she said Stonewall “doesn’t do itself any favours” with the bigot award.

She said: “But where I disagree with Stonewall in these awards is the need to call people names like ‘bigot’. It is simply wrong.

“The case for equality is far better made by demonstrating the sort of generosity, tolerance and love we would wish to see more of in this world.”

John Deighan, the Catholic Church’s parliamentary officer for Scotland, said O’Brien’s award was an “outrage”.

Deighan said: “Stonewall want to shut down anyone who doesn’t agree with them in the public discourse.” A church spokesman said: “We are in the midst of a fierce, high-profile public debate here, with regard to the Same-Sex Marriage Bill.

“It is quite clear that, in this instance, one side, Stonewall, are campaigning at public expense, while the other, the Scotland for Marriage grouping, are not.

“This is quite obviously not a level playing field.”

The SNP want gay marriage to be legal

A source at the church claimed Stonewell got about £1.4million in Scottish Government grants over the past 10 years. But the group rejected this claim – saying they relied on “the generosity of private supporters for funding”.

A Stonewall spokesman added: “We do not seek, nor do we receive, government funding for any of our campaigning.

“The only government funding we receive is for a specific project, which is about ensuring our public services, such as the NHS, are fit for purpose for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Scots, and are meeting their obligations under the Equality Act.

“It is £300,000 over three years to fund staff, training and research. All our core work, campaigning and so on, is funded by private supporters.”

The group stood by their decision to give the bigot award to O’Brien.

Stonewall Scotland director Colin Macfarlane said: “People nominated for Bigot of the Year have this year called gay people Nazis, they have compared them to bestialitists and to paedophiles, and one of the nominees suggested that gay people should be put in front of a firing squad and shot dead.

“So I think what we are doing is highlighting the very cruel, very nasty, very pernicious language that is being used by some people.

“I think we are right to highlight that kind of discrimination, hence why Bigot of the Year was one of our award categories.

“In the past year the cardinal has likened the campaign for same-sex marriage to slavery, he has called it grotesque.”

The Scottish Government confirmed they partly fund Stonewall Scotland’s work tackling inequalities for LGBT service users and had no plans to end their financial backing.

But their spokeswoman added: “It is neither useful nor helpful to the cause of equality to describe the leader of a major church in these terms.

“Using language that is disrespectful or discourteous is potentially counter-productive to the cause of equality – which the Scottish Government are firmly committed to.”

Stonewall view

By Colin MacFarlane, Scottish director of Stonewall

CARDINAL O’Brien was voted by thousands of our supporters to be Bigot of the Year because of his vicious campaign against equal marriage.

We have no problem with people not agreeing with equal marriage – and there is a strong debate going on in Scotland around the proposals.

Some do not agree with the proposals. We at Stonewall do not agree with these people – but we do so in a dignified and respectful manner.

That is how we feel it should be done.

Sadly, the Cardinal hasn’t done that. He has compared equal marriage to slavery, to paedophilia and bestiality. He has said he is going to declare war on supporters of equal marriage.

I feel a man of the cloth declaring war on another section of Scottish society is pretty despicable. It’s disheartening and depressing. And not only does it cause offence to many Scots, their friends and families, it also causes great distress to the many Catholics who do not agree with his language.

It is Stonewall’s job to shine a light on discrimination and to stand firm in tackling it.

What I want is for the First Minister and all MSPs to say “no”’ to the kind of language used by the Cardinal and others when discussing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues – and to stand firm with Stonewall and call it what it is. Bigotry.

It’s cruel and doesn’t do anyone any favours.

Church view

By Liz Leydon, Editor of Scottish Catholic Observer

I WAS disappointed and offended to see Stonewall reduce the highly sensitive debate on marriage to a personal attack on Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

As modern Scotland struggles to shake off the shackles of sectarianism, it is foolish, ignorant and offensive to call anyone a bigot, let alone use Bigot of the Year for propaganda purposes.

Cardinal O’Brien speaks for the church and leads Scotland’s Catholics. He does not stand alone in the teaching he expresses on protecting marriage and the family.

Protecting traditional marriage is not just church teaching, it is the proven bedrock of our society.

Therefore, a change to marriage would force a fundamental shift to the detriment of our society.

By making the award, Stonewall demonstrated intolerance and ignorance of the complexity of the marriage issue and they disrespected a senior clergyman who has had the courage to stand up for church teaching.

Will homosexual activists now brand anyone who expresses an opposing view a bigot?

With all the talk of equality and rights, are the faithful to be denied their rights?

Tensions are running high over this fresh attack on Cardinal O’Brien and Catholics and on the future of marriage itself. What is required is mutual respect and cool heads.